Police raid Paris town hall in probe over mayor's trip to Tahiti
Investigators raided Paris town hall Tuesday as part of a probe into a taxpayer-funded trip by mayor Anne Hidalgo to the French Pacific island Tahiti, according to reports from French news agency AFP.
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Specialist financial crimes officers and prosecutors from the National Financial Prosecutor (PNF) went to Paris city hall Tuesday.
The probe, first reported by French daily Le Monde, was opened in November after complaints by anti-corruption campaigners and city councillors over Anne Hidalgo's October trip with Paris officials, according to the reports.
The case concerns a three-week trip to the Pacific, from 16 October to 5 November 2023, which has raised questions about the possible mixing of public money and private affairs.
Hidalgo justified her trip by linking it to this year's Paris Olympics, whose surfing contest will be held at Teahupoo in Tahiti.
But she brought her partner and tacked on a two-week personal stay to the 60,000-euro official visit.
Hidalgo has maintained that she paid for the personal leg of the travel, including her flight home.
Anti-graft organisation AC!! Anti-Corruption said her stay included a visit to her daughter, who lives on a nearby island.
Hidalgo's office had "already voluntarily produced supporting documentation regarding the journey of a city delegation to French Polynesia and New Caledonia," another French Pacific territory, it told French news agency AFP in a written statement.
It added that it had provided additional documents that investigators had asked for on Tuesday.
City hall also highlighted that its own ethics commission - whose members are nominated by Hidalgo - had found no issue with the Polynesia trip.
(with AFP)
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